Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $201.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $176.68 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $80.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $215.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.53.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.